PressEthic

Even as Anderson Cooper, Keith Olbermann and others have offered tough—and sometimes downright scathing—criticism of the administration’s response to Katrina, reporters dropped the ball at a critical moment: holding Michael D. Brown accountable. That Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff would bar Brown from speaking at his going-home press conference isn’t all that surprising—but that reporters, who, through Katrina, have found their voice as public advocates—didn’t press Chertoff on his bullish response, published by the NYT, is just irresponsible.

Q. Is this the first step in Mr. Brown’s resignation? Can you answer that, Mr. Brown, please? And also, how do you respond to reports that you embellished your résumé. There was a report in Time magazine.

CHERTOFF. Here are the ground rules. I’m going to answer the questions. I’ve explained what we’re doing. I thought I was about as clear as I possibly could be in English as to what I’m doing and why I’m doing it. Next question. Yes.

Amid disastrous federal relief management and serious allegations that he tweaked his resume to get the FEMA gig, the fact that Brown is being jettisoned back to the Beltway without so much as a hardball (despite, of course, the heartbreaking moment in which Paula Zahn made Brown look like the biggest ignoramous on cable news) is deplorable. Oh well, it’s not like we’re used to administration officials being held accountable; perhaps we’ll remember Brown, as he slinks away from the public eye, possibly never to be heard from again, through Bush’s now famous pronouncement a few days after federal intervention: “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”